The Phantom
by The Titan
Summary: My own version of Danny Phantom. A slightly more realistic and darker universe. Let me know what you think. New chapters up. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Danny Fenton went over every last calculation. With everything checked and double checked, the ghost portal was finally ready to be activated.

All around him people in lab coats were hurrying to do their individual jobs. The technicians were busy working on the last minute touches of the ghost portal, which towered over everyone by twenty feet. Danny looked up to a skinny black man wearing an identical lab coat, glasses and an orange baseball cap telling the technicians what to do. He glanced down at Danny. A big smile appeared on his face and he nodded to him and gave Danny a thumbs up.

Danny returned the gesture, shook his head and smiled. Tucker Foley was the lead technician and Danny's best friend. He had been with him since the beginning. Ever since the ghost portal was just a crazy idea his father had. A small man came up to Danny.

"Dr. Fenton, everything is ready, we are just waiting for your final word." Danny smiled to himself. He still couldn't believe he was in charge of this entire operation. It was not to long ago that it was only himself and Tucker that had been working on the ghost portal in his basement.

Ever since his father died, Danny had dedicated his life to finishing his work by making a fully functional portal into the ghost zone. Even though his father had been very wealthy from making his different inventions for the government, he still couldn't provide all the necessary funds to make the ghost portal. All hopes of making his father's dream a reality had seemed lost.

Until a man by the name of Vlad Masters had come to Danny and offered to give him all the money he needed to make the portal. Masters had represented a small government agency called The Afterlife that specialized in studying ghosts and other spectral anomalies. He had offered Danny all the money he needed plus, all of the agency's resources and manpower.

Vlad had also been a close friend of his father's. Jack Fenton, Danny's father, had sold his ghost hunting inventions to The Afterlife for many years and worked with them on some special cases.

Now Danny was following in his father's footsteps. It had taken him four years of hard work to get to this point. The ghost portal was ready to be activated. With this portal activated, The Afterlife could learn a number of different things about an entire different side of humanity, not to mention the kind of resources that might come from the ghost zone. Danny could hardly contain his joy.

"Dr. Fenton?" Danny was snapped out of his daydreams by his assistant still awaiting his final order.

"Right," Danny said. "Ok I want you to get those technicians away from the portal and have everyone come back to the safety platform." His assistant nodded and quickly ran off to get those things done. Danny walked up the stairs to the safety platform and took his place behind the special reinforced glass.

When the ghost portal was activated, there was a chance that anyone in a one hundred foot radius would be contaminated with ecto-radiation. That was why everyone had taken safety behind the glass on the platform over looking the portal. The ghost portal was in a room the size of a gymnasium. The workstations to operate it were also behind the safety glass.

Danny was busy looking at his clipboard and going over his calculations for the umpteenth time when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Vlad Masters. The older man smiled at him.

Vlad Masters was tall and muscular with long white hair tied into a ponytail. He always walked with confidence and had a presence about him that demanded respect. Danny returned the smile and said:

"Everything is almost ready Mr. Masters; I'm just going over some final things right now." Vlad chuckled.

"Daniel my boy, how many times have I told you to call me Vlad?" Danny smiled nervously.

"Too many Vlad. With everything going on, I guess I'm just kind of nervous." Vlad clasped his hand on Danny's shoulder harder.

"Now now my boy, you have nothing to worry about. All of your calculations are correct and our technicians have been working round the clock on every last detail of your schematics." Danny just nodded uneasily. "Your father would be very proud." Danny gave the older man a warm smile.

"Thank you. That means a lot." Danny returned his attention back to the task at hand. "Ok everyone, take your places." Danny looked to the woman sitting at a computer consol in front of him. "How are the ecto readings Dr. Brown?" The woman answered without looking back.

"Normal sir."

"Good. Mr. Marsh, are all of the technicians and lab personal in the safe locations." His assistant looked at him.

"Yes sir," Danny smiled again.

"Alright, now let's do this."


	2. Chapter 2

The lab technicians fired up the individual generators. The generators fed energy into the portal. When all of them were giving a fine hum Danny checked the readings again.

"Normal sir," Mrs. Brown said. Danny smiled again. The last thing left to do was simply turn it on, to put it simple.

Danny walked over to one of the computer consoles. On it was a large red button. He placed his finger on it and hesitated. Everyone in the lab was holding their breaths, even the confident Vlad. Danny let out a deep breath.

"Well, here goes everything," He pushed the red button. A green spark shot out of the portal. Everyone waited but nothing else happened. "Are the generators still feeding it energy?" Danny asked no one in particular.

"Yes sir," someone said. Danny walked over to Mrs. Brown's consol and checked the ecto readings himself.

"I don't get it," He began. "Everything is in order, why isn't it working?" Danny began to go over the math on his clipboard.

"Turn the power off," Vlad said. He walked over to Danny. "Don't worry about it my boy; I'm sure it was some minor mistake."

"No it can't be that, I went over every last detail over and over." He began going through his notes faster. "I didn't make a mistake." Vlad just shook his head.

"We can set it up and try it again tomorrow."

"But…" Danny began.

"Quiet!," Vlad said with anger. Danny flinched. Vlad's angry face quickly changed to a pleasant smile. "Go back to your office and try and see what went wrong, but then get some rest." Danny walked off muttering to himself.

"I will not rest until this thing is working." Vlad gave a quick sneer at Danny then returned to his pleasant face.

"Ok everyone; while Dr. Fenton is going over his notes, I want all of you to go through your individual jobs and find out what went wrong." The entire lab personal quickly rushed off with solemn looks on their faces.

Danny was walking down the hallway of the huge underground complex with his face in his notes. He didn't see the attractive woman walking his way and nearly banged into her.

"Hey watch it!" Valerie Gray said in frustration. Then she got a better look at him. "Oh Danny," Danny just grunted an apology.

Valerie and Danny had been dating for almost a year. Valerie was a weapon specialist and helped test and design the weapons for The Afterlife. She was also an ex-Marine with a fifth degree black belt.

When she first met Danny, she though he was kind of a dork. With him being small and skinny, he wasn't really her type. But over the years of him working for the Afterlife, Valerie had gotten to know him better and they eventually started dating. But now he barely acknowledged her.

"Hey Danny, what's wrong?" Danny kept walking and said:

"Portal didn't work," That stopped Valerie. Although she wasn't working on that particular project she did now how important it was to Danny. In fact, tonight they were going to celebrate the activation of the portal. But now it looked like she would be spending the evening alone.

"Is there anything I can do?" She asked catching up to him.

"No, I need to go over the math and check the readings. So much to do. I can't believe it didn't work." He began muttering to himself again and walked off, leaving Valerie alone in the hallway.

Hours later, Danny sat at his desk in his office. Papers with different equations were scattered everywhere. He had his hands on his head in frustration. All of the numbers had added up, the readings were correct and all of the technicians said everything was in place. So why hadn't it worked. Danny began going over his notes again when he heard someone enter his office.

"Everything alright man?" Tucker Foley said from behind him. Danny pounded his hands on his desk in anger.

"No, everything is not alright. Everything adds up, it should have worked." Tucker walked over to Danny's desk and began going through some of the papers.

"Yeah, all of these look right." He looked through some more papers. "What do you think went wrong?" Danny just shook his head.

"I don't have any theories on this one, at least nothing I want to say out loud." Tucker just looked at his friend with sympathy.

"Well, I'm done with all of my tech work for now; I can help you go over some of the other work too." Danny looked up and gave his friend a small smile. Tucker was a genius. All kinds of technology were his specialty, but he was still brilliant in many other subjects, spectral studies were one of them.

"No thanks, I can take care of this. Why don't you go back and look over the portal again. Maybe there is a faulty wire or something." Tucker sighed loudly.

"I checked the portal a hundred times. And you must have checked it a thousand! Take a break for a while man." Danny just went back to his work.

"I can't, I have to activate this portal." Tucker just shook his head.

"Alright man, but don't overdue it" But he knew full well that Danny would overdue it. They have known each other since elementary school and when Danny did something, he saw it to the end no matter what. Tucker patted his friend on the back and left the office.

Danny continued working for another hour until two people entered his office. The both had smug looks on their faces.

"I guess you aren't so smart after all Fenton," The first one said. Danny looked up angrily from his work.

"Rick. John. What do you two want?" Rick and John exchanged mean glances. Danny got up to meet them. Rick walked up to Danny. He was big and had huge muscles. His hair was shaved bald. He narrowed his eyes at Danny.

"We just wanted to see the great Danny Fenton be wrong." He started snickering.

"Yeah," said John from behind him. "From the way everyone treats you, I would think it was impossible for you to be wrong." They both chuckled. John looked identical to Rick, only he was a little shorter and not as muscular. They reminded Danny of some old school bullies. Normally their jealous, petty insults wouldn't bother him, but now with all the things that went wrong today, he was fuming.

"Get the hell out of my office!" He yelled. They both looked at each other in mock surprise.

"I think we got him mad," Rick said with a smirk. Danny's face turned red and he clenched his fists.

"You two bastards better get out of here now before I do something I'll regret." John walked up to Danny and grabbed him by the shirt.

"Like what?" he said with a dangerous tone. Danny had worked out since his high school days and had learned some fighting from Valerie so that he was far from helpless, but both Rick and John outweighed him by more then a hundred pounds. There wasn't much he could do to them. Luckily someone cleared their throat.

Standing in the doorway to Danny's office was Vlad Masters. He had his hands behind his back and looked slightly confused. John let go of him quickly.

"What's going on here?" Vlad asked. Before Danny could answer, Rick said:

"Nothing, Dr. Masters, we were just going over some numbers with Danny and he got angry." Vlad shook his head.

"Well enough of this nonsense, I have some bad news that you all might want to hear." The other three men fell silent and listened to Vlad. "I have just got off of the phone with our people at the pentagon. They are pulling all of our funding for the ghost portal project." Danny gasped and the other two men exchanged looks.

"Th-They can't do that! This project is way too important." Vlad shrugged his shoulders in disappointment.

"Apparently they want to move The Afterlife in different directions and pick up on other projects." Danny stared at the other men in horror.

"But Mr. Masters, surely you can fund some of the project."

"I'm sorry Daniel, but there is nothing I can do. After the failure today they feel it isn't worth any more time or money. Unless the portal is activated in the next twenty four hours, it will be disassembled." Danny sat back in his chair at a loss for words. Finally he said:

"Then we must try and activate it again tonight." Vlad gave Danny a sympathetic smile.

"Everyone has gone home for the night; there is nothing more anyone can do." He walked over and placed his hand on Danny's shoulder. "I'm sorry son, you did your best." Vlad exited Danny's office and Rick and John soon followed.

Danny was left alone with his thoughts. So that was it. There was nothing more he could do. He just couldn't believe it ended like this. Danny felt very depressed for a moment. Then an idea came to him.

"I'll do it myself then," Danny became excited again. He really didn't need all of those extra hands, true it did help. But Danny should be able to do all of that other work by himself. He began to go through his notes again and prepared to activate the ghost portal.

Outside Danny's office, Rick and John laughed to themselves.

"Wow," John said. "He is going to drive himself crazy," Rick laughed along with his friend.

"Yeah, he is supposed to be so smart and he has no idea we….." Vlad came behind him and smacked him in the back of the head.

"Fool," He said manically. "He must not here you," Rick stopped talking and looked scared. "Now you two have done your part, leave the rest to me." Vlad walked down the empty hallway for the final part of his plan.

Danny Fenton was working on the ghost portal. He was just making the final inspections. Without anyone to help him, the work took twice as long. But it would all be worth it in the end.

Danny was wearing a white hazmat suit with black gloves and boots. Since he was working so close to the portal, there was a higher chance of ecto-radiation. Now he was practically inside the portal tightening some wires. He has already turned the generators on so the portal had power. All that was left to do was just turn it on from a safe distance. But he was just checking the portal one last time just to make sure. He walked inside the portal to check the ecto filters.

Vlad Masters walked into the control room for the ghost portal. He couldn't help but have a wicked smile on his face. After so many years of planning, he would finally have the ghost portal technology for himself.

Vlad had worked for The Afterlife for nearly twenty years, ever since it first began. It was here he befriended Jack Fenton. Together they tried to invent a smaller version of the ghost portal but failed with a terrible accident. The accident left them both critically injured but after they recovered Vlad went on to other projects while Jack still experimented with the idea for a ghost portal.

During this time Vlad was dating Madeline McClain. They were high school sweethearts and he had hoped to marry her. But after the accident, Vlad became crueler and would sometimes hit her. This eventually caused her to leave Vlad and run to Jack, whom she married. This angered Vlad so much that it drove him insane and caused him to hate his old friend.

But now that Vlad was the head of The Afterlife, he could use the necessary recourses to make a functional ghost portal. This would be his way of getting back at Jack. Now he would live his dream. But it didn't stop there.

Vlad had recruited Jack's son to help him with the ghost portal and he was becoming a father figure for the young man. But Vlad didn't worry himself with such emotions. Sure Danny was bright, but he did have a strong dislike for him. He reminded Vlad of his father to much.

So now Vlad recruited Rick and John to sabotage the activation of the ghost portal. He knew that Danny's work was perfect. But he wanted the technology for himself. The things a genius like Vlad could do with a ghost portal would be extraordinary. Now the only thing he had left to do was steel the circuit board with all of the ghost portal technology so he could build one himself.

When he walked into the control room he found the generators on. At a closer inspection he found the ghost portal ready to be activated. He looked through the safety glass to see Danny Fenton working on the inside of the portal.

Vlad shook his head in disbelief. The kid wouldn't give up.

Vlad took the circuit board off a consol and got ready to leave when he had an idea. This would be the ultimate revenge, by destroying Danny Fenton by the very same thing that had almost killed him. He walked over to the activation consol and an evil smile came across his face.

He pressed the button.

Danny heard a hum deep inside the portal.

"What the hell?" The hum grew louder and louder until he saw a flash of green light.

The green light engulfed him. Ectoplasm went into his body and fused with his blood.

The pain was unbearable. Danny felt searing burns all over his body. His muscles began to spasm and his skin startd to sizzle. His hazmat suit fused to his skin and the radiation changed the colors from white to black. His hair was turned ghostly white and his skin paled. Finally all of the radiation burned the back of his eyeballs and turned them green.

Danny let out a blood curling scream as he felt his heart stop. The portal finally activated and he was sent flying out into the lab landing on his back. He held his new form for a full minute until he started to glow and he faded back to his normal self. Danny was left convulsing on the floor.

Vlad walked up him and looked down when he stopped convulsing. Danny was lying naked on the lab floor not breathing. Normally Vlad would have left him to die, but he could feel his essence change. The ecto radiation had done something to change him. And Vlad would find out just how much he had changed.


	3. Chapter 3

Danny kept fading in and out of consciousness. He was aware of a lot of activity around him. At one point he heard someone scream. Then he felt like he was moving and realized he was in an ambulance. Everything started to get really quiet and peaceful.

"We're loosing him," someone said from far away. The voices around him grew fainter. "Danny!" someone screamed.

A glowing green light came into Danny's view. Everything was completely calm now. He tried to reach for the glowing green light. It got closer and closer. If only he could touch it, then everything would be perfect.

Danny reached out and grabbed the glowing green light. A warm rush of energy filled his being. Every muscle in his body relaxed at once.

Just before Danny lost complete consciousness he heard a very faint voice yell:

"Clear."

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Danny awoke to the sound of a heart monitor. He opened his eyes to see plain white walls.

His felt a little dizzy at first but other then that, he felt perfect.

"Danny!" someone yelled. He turned his head to see Tucker and Valerie standing at the side of his bed. Before he could respond Valerie flung himself around his neck.

"Oh Danny, we thought you died," she said. She began sobbing into his shoulder. He hugged her back.

"It's ok Val, I'm fine, I feel great," Danny explained. Valerie let go of Danny so he could talk more.

"What happened in the lab?" Tucker asked his friend.

"I'm not really sure," Danny began. "I was working inside the ghost portal and then there was a flash of light and I woke up here." Tucker and Valerie exchanged glances.

"You were working on the ghost portal by yourself?! You know how dangerous that is." Tucker looked angry. Danny dropped his head.

"I know, but the Pentagon was going to scrap the project. I had to make it work." Tucker just shook his head and Valerie was still crying softly. "What's wrong guys? I'm fine." Valerie put her head in her hands. Tucker just looked at him sadly.

"Dude, you died," he finally said. Danny gasped.

"Died?" he said. Tucker nodded.

"Yeah you flat lined for almost ten minutes. The EMTs had to bring you back. They were about to give up on you but Mr. Masters wouldn't let them." Danny looked confused.

"Vlad? What does he have to do with this?"

"He was the one that found you next to the portal convulsing," Tucker explained. "He called the ambulance and rode with you to the hospital." Danny was about to say something when he saw someone enter the room. It was Vlad.

"Daniel my boy, you gave us all quite a scare," He had a worried look on his face. "When I found you next to the portal, I expected the worst." Danny just looked at the man. "How are you feeling?" Danny just shrugged.

"I feel fine; I don't even know what happened. One minute I'm in the portal checking the ecto filters, then….." He stopped talking when it all came back to him. "The portal! I was inside the portal and it was activated." Tucker and Valerie exchanged worried glances, while Vlad almost looked pleased about something.

"How are you still alive?" Tucker asked. "The doctors looked over your blood; there is no trace of ectoplasm." Danny shook his head.

"That's impossible; I could feel it in my blood. The pain was intense. Like nothing I have ever felt." He shuddered. "But now I feel fine." A tall skinny man in a lab coat entered the room.

"It is impossible," he said. He looked exasperated. "By all means you should be dead, but all the tests say you're completely healthy."

"Really?" Danny asked in disbelief. The doctor nodded. "But how could you possibly know about what happened to me?' The doctor began to explain but Vlad interrupted.

"You see my boy; Dr. Vasquez is a special doctor," He motioned to the doctor. "He works for the Afterlife and is trained to study injuries involving spectral anomalies."

"But how….?" Danny began.

"This part of the hospital is owned by the Afterlife as well. As you all well know our work is top secret and we can't have normal doctors going to anyone else about what we do." Vlad said. They all nodded.

"Makes sense," Tucker said.

"So you are free to go Danny," Dr. Vasquez said.

"Wow I can't believe it," Danny said. Then another realization came to him. "The ghost portal, is it working?" The other three didn't say anything for a minute. Valerie looked down at the floor, obviously uncomfortable, Tucker looked at the ceiling not knowing what to say and Vlad still looked at Danny with a satisfied smile but still not knowing what do say. Danny sank back onto the bed. "Oh no, it still didn't work." Tucker looked down at him and finally said:

"No, it worked, in fact it's fully functional," Danny saw the nervous look on his face.

"But…?" Tucker took a deep breath.

"The portal was prematurely activated. The safety shield wasn't in place. A number of ghosts could have gotten out." Danny winced.

"I don't know how the portal could have been activated," he said. "I was working inside it, hundreds of feet from the activation button." Tucker just shrugged his shoulders.

"Well," Vlad said. "Since you were doing all of the work by yourself, there is a chance you might have over looked something," Danny just shook his head.

"No I..." But Vlad cut him off. "We will find out what activated it, but there is still the matter of you working on the portal when I gave you a specific order not to." Danny looked ashamed for a second.

"I had to sir," Danny pleaded. "I couldn't throw away almost five years of work and research." Vlad shook his head slowly.

"Be that as it may, you will still have to answer for your actions after you inspect the portal." Danny shot out of his bed.

"I will be there right away."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Danny looked into the deep portal. Inside it was a green vortex. The way it spun around was hypnotic. It just seemed to go on forever.

"Danny," Tucker's voice brought him back to reality. He was holding a folder in his hand and had a worried expression on his face. "I got those readings for you." He handed Danny the folder.

Danny opened it and began reading. "Oh no," he said. "According to this, over a dozen ghosts came through the portal." He read on. "And a lot of them were level five specters and above."

"At least we know it works now," Tucker said jokingly. Danny glared at his friend. "Hey, I'm just trying to lighten the mood. The Men in White are already tracking them down." Danny made a disapproving noise.

The Men in White was a branch of the Afterlife that hunted down and destroyed or captured violent ghosts, mostly destroyed. In Danny's opinion, they were a bunch of crazy soldiers that wanted to shoot anything that moved.

On both side of the portal were four Men in White soldiers. They were each holding ecto-ray guns. A dozen more were busy running around the lab as if the ghosts were right there. They were only getting in everyone else's way.

Danny continued to read on and nearly screamed. He read the paragraph again just to make sure he saw it correctly.

"This says that the ecto radiation had infected nearly the entire town." Tucker looked at his friend.

"I thought it was all contained already," he said. Danny shook his head.

"It was, but if this is correct, it will have already affected the area." Tucker just nodded not fully understanding. "It will cause other ghosts to manifest outside of the Ghost Zone." Tucker gasped.

"That is not good; I'll let the Men in White know." He quickly hurried off.

Vlad came up behind Danny looking stressed. "I hope you're happy," he said with anger. "It will take years to contain this outbreak of ghosts."

"I'm so sorry sir, I didn't know. It's still early; we can contain them before it gets to serious." Vlad held up a hand to silence him.

"You will go home now and let me take care of this. We will call you when you are needed." Danny began to protest but Vlad stopped him again. "You are lucky we don't arrest you. Now if you argue with me again I will make you regret it." His voice held a dangerous tone.

Danny just stopped talking and nodded.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Danny was walking down the hall to leave the lab facility when he felt a cold shiver ran up his spine. He saw his breath come out like he was cold. Something was calling to him. He walked in the direction of the weird urge.

Danny entered a store room full of different boxes. In the corner of the room was a box that looked average enough, but the weird feeling was taking him to it. He picked it up and it began to shake.

The box was launched out of his hands and hovered above him. It opened and a blue light shot out. The blue light manifested itself into a man.

The man was about six feet tall and muscular. His skin was light blue and his eyes were like fire. He wore dark gray coveralls and a matching hat. The man looked down at Danny with a furious look.

"You dare disturb the Box Ghost," its voice was deep and raspy. Before Danny could reply it flew down and picked him up by the throat and held him off the ground. "Beware." The Box Ghost threw Danny into a wall.

Danny landed on the floor with a thud. A sharp pain went through his sides. He must have broken a rib.

The Box Ghost flew down at Danny ready to strike again. Danny held up his hands. Suddenly his enire body lit up and his form changed. His hair turned a ghostly white and his eyes were glowing green. His clothes changed to a black hazmat suit with white gloves and boots and his skin seemed paler.

Before the ghost could strike, Danny became intangible and the Box Ghost went through him harmlessly.

Danny looked behind him realizing what he just done. The Box Ghost glared at him angrily. He flew at Danny again. This time Danny held his hands up and stopped the ghost before he could strike.

Danny and the ghost struggled for a second. The Box Ghost let go and flew back. He held up his hands and the boxes in the room began to move around in a circle.

The Box Ghost launched them at Danny. Without thinking Danny jumped out of the way of the boxes. "Stop!" Danny yelled. The ghost just laughed manically. Danny became angered before he realized he was floating five feet of the ground. "How?" Was all he could say before the Box Ghost struck him in the chest.

The blow sent Danny into a pile of boxes. The Box Ghost shouted at him.

"This isn't over; soon you will face the full wrath of The Box Ghost." The Box Ghost flew threw the ceiling out of site. Danny heard footsteps running up to the door.

_Oh no,_ he thought. _I can't let anyone see me like this._ As soon as he thought this his body lit up again and he was changed back to his normal form.

The door was kicked open and two Men in White came in. "We just got spectral readings coming from here, what happened?" Danny struggled to comprehend what he just witnessed.

"There was a ghost in here," he said. "It attacked me and flew threw the ceiling." They both looked at him.

"We got a reading of two ghosts being here, did you see the other one?"

"Two ghosts?" Danny said in disbelief. "I…uh….no just the one." They both put their hands to their right ear.

"We got one, possibly two ghosts still in the lab and we need medical attention to Storage Room B." They ran out of the room holding their guns high.

Danny still sat on the floor in disbelief. The only thing he could think of was that he didn't need medical attention. His ribs felt fine. Then another thing popped into his head.

_Am I a ghost now? _


	4. Chapter 4

After Danny was looked over for injuries he was sent home. The Men in White had their hands full looking for that Box Ghost. And Danny had his own problems to deal with.

All that exposure to the ecto radiation had changed him somehow. He had changed forms when that ghost attacked him. While he was in that form he was able to become intangible and make contact with a ghost. But according to the readings from the Men in White, he was a ghost as well. That just couldn't be right.

Danny hurried back to his house. It was a small two story brick house that had once belonged to his parents. Above the second floor window was a small sign that said _Fenton Works_.

When Danny went through the front door he quickly went to the basement where his lab was. It was here that his father had done most of his experiments on ghosts and made his weapons. Now it was Danny's lab when he wasn't at the Afterlife's.

There were three tables against the right wall of the lab. On all of the tables were a number of different things ranging from scattered notes to ghost hunting equipment. Danny went over to the tables and picked up one of his tools used to read spectral energy. A quick scan of his body showed that there was not a trace of energy on him.

"Weird," Danny said to himself. He then remembered that he had changed his form when the ghost attached him. What if he could do that again?

Danny walked over to the mirror in his lab and looked at his reflection. He didn't know how to activate the change.

_Change, _he thought. Nothing happened. _Change,_ he thought again. He still felt the same. Maybe it was only a one time thing. _Change! _He concentrated as hard as he could on being a ghost and the change happened.

Danny's body lit up and he was transformed. His clothes changed to the black hazmat suit with white gloves and boots. His black hair had now turned white as a sheet. And his eyes which were once blue were now glowing green.

"Amazing," Danny said. Even his voice had more of an echo to it. He studied his reflection in the mirror in disbelief.

Danny's entire body felt as light as a feather. He quickly ran over to the table to pick up the same tool. This time his spectral energy was off the charts.

They young scientist then remembered how he had become intangible during the fight with the ghost. As soon as the thought entered his head his whole body became intangible. His spectral detector fell through his hand.

Danny gasped and he began to fall through the floor. Gravity was pulling his weightless form down.

"No!" Danny screamed. He quickly shot up into the air and hovered over the ground. "Incredible," he said after he realized what he just did. He flew around his lab in amazement and felt confined. So he shot up through the ceiling in his roof and out of his house up into the sky.

Danny soared above the town of Amity Park. It was an unbelievable feeling. He was actually flying!

Danny felt truly at peace in the sky. His body seemed to be made for it in this ghost form. The wind didn't bother his eyes; in fact he had the sight of an eagle now.

He flew hundreds of feet into the air and was almost out of the lower stratosphere. When he saw how high up he was he became afraid he would run out of air. But then realized he wasn't breathing at all.

Danny then flew down towards Amity Park until he was flying among the tops of the buildings. He became afraid someone would see him. A quick glance at his reflection on a building window showed that he was invisible. He became worried and he became visible again.

_Unreal, _Danny though to himself as he was flying over his town. He could become invisible, intangible and fly. Danny couldn't help but wonder if there was anything else he could do in this form.

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Later, in his lab, Danny was hard at work. Once he figured out how to transform from ghost to human, he analyzed the blood from the two different forms.

When he was in human form, his blood was completely normal, but when he was in ghost form, his blood was light green and combined with ectoplasm. He also found it nearly impossible to penetrate his skin in this form. Only after he used a knife in his lab made for dissecting ghosts, was he able to break the skin slightly. And seconds after his skin was penetrated, the wound healed itself. Due to his fight with the Box Ghost, Danny found out that any injuries he got while in human form were healed after he transformed to ghost form.

Danny stopped working for a minute to take this all in. This was impossible. Never had there been a human that could fuse with spectral energy to become a ghost and still be alive. It was a medical miracle.

He thought of telling his people at The Afterlife but almost instantly regarded that idea. If he told them, they would lock him up and study him, taking him apart piece by piece, or even worse, try and recreate the accident to make another half ghost, half human. They would call him a freak and his career would be ruined. No, Danny would keep this to himself, at least until he was able to figure out more about his condition.

Danny went upstairs and exited his lad. It was a late night and he had had a very long day. Maybe things would look better in the morning.

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Miles away, Vlad Masters was hard at work on his creation. He was in his own secret lab in his mansion outside of Amity Park.

In the lab, was a smaller version of a half finished ghost portal and a lot of other equipment. But right not, he wasn't working on the portal. He was busy putting green water into a large fish tank.

In the fish tank were three small squids. The water in the fish tank was combined with ectoplasm. The squids were long dead, but because of the exposure to the ectoplasm, Vlad now held their spectral forms in a ghost containment unit.

This had been one of his side projects for a few years now, killing animals exposed to ecto-radation and razing them as ghosts. He was busy putting the finishing touches on their new ghost bodies.

When he was finished, he released them from the containment unit. The ghost squids flew out of the cage and hovered a few feet from Vlad like trained dogs.

The squids were about eight feet long and had green skin with red eyes. They looked at Vlad mindlessly waiting for their orders.

"Perfect," Vlad said. What a better way to test out two different projects. He would now see the effectiveness of the ghost squids and what Danny could do.

"Go," he said to the squids. "Find Danny Fenton and kill him." The squids flew up threw the ceiling to obey their master.

Vlad chuckled, very pleased with himself. If this experiment worked like he thought it would, he would have many plans for Danny Fenton.

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Danny tossed and turned in bed, not able to sleep. He was too restless from the day's events.

Finally, he got out of bed. He might as well see what else he could do in his ghost form.

Danny transformed into his ghost self and flew through his roof out into the night.

Now he felt at peace again. Nothing could get to him up here. It was as if all of his problems were left on the ground. He wasn't thinking of what would happen when they finally got this ghost portal mess together or what it would do to his career. He was just completely at peace.

Danny flew over to his old high school, Casper High. This place held a lot of memories, most of them bad.

While Danny was in school, he was picked on almost on a daily basis by the "popular" kids. The one who picked on him the most was Dash Baxter. He was the typical dumb jock. It seemed that he had something personal against Danny with how many times he beat him up.

It was because of Dash, that Danny decided to learn how to defend himself with martial arts and follow his father's work. Dash may have been a useless idiot, but in a way he helped Danny become who he was today.

Now at twenty-five, Danny was a well respected scientist and Dash was working at the local Wal-Mart in the sporting goods section. Danny couldn't help but smile thinking that the jock got what he deserved.

Danny was pulled out of his thought by a cold shiver down his spine. It was the same feeling he got when he sensed the Box Ghost. His breath hung in the air and he felt a pulling in his body from his left.

_Amazing, _Danny thought. _I seem to be able to sense ghosts as well. _

Then it dawned on him that a ghost was near.

He quickly turned in the air and saw three monstrous things flying toward him. They appeared to be ghost squids of some kind. They looked like something out of a nightmare.

The ghosts flew toward him with amazing speed. Danny had no time to think before the squid in the lead hit him head on.

The attack left him stunned for a minute before the other two attacked. They flew on each side of him and struck with their tentacles.

The tentacles struck Danny all over his body. He had no way to fight back. There were just too many tentacles.

One squid trapped Danny in its tentacles, while the others proceeded to hit him again. This time, he phased through the tentacles that had him trapped and flew above the squids.

"I don't know what's going on," Danny said. "But you freaks are going to be sorry." He then flew toward the squid closest to him with all of his might and punched it in the face.

The squid was sent flying to the ground with a loud squishy crash. The other squid came at Danny, but he was ready this time.

He grabbed one squid and threw it at the other. They collided and were caught in each other's tentacles.

The two squids untangled themselves and came at Danny. One of the squids shot a mass of ink at him.

Danny dodged it just in time as it grazed his shoulder. There was a bubbling wound on his shoulder. The ink seemed to be some kind of acid substance.

"Whoa!" Danny yelled. The wound burned but it soon healed. He then struck the one that shot the ink at him knocking it a hundred feet through the air.

While Danny was busy with this squid, the one behind him swelled up and shot ink at him. The half ghost looked back and became intangible, having the ink pass harmlessly through him onto the other squid.

When the ink hit the squid, the monster let out a horrible cry. Its entire body began to dissolve into nothing. The remains fell to the ground in a bubbly mess.

Danny turned on the other squid with an intense glare. The squid backed up through the air and decided to run.

The squid shot off through the city with Danny close behind. It knew that Danny would soon catch it so it flung a tentacle out and knocked over a billboard on top of a building.

The large sign fell. People on the ground looked up frozen with fear. They screamed with terror.

Without even thinking, Danny flew down under the sign and stopped it before it hit the ground. He held it over his head like it weighed no more then a basket ball.

Danny set it harmlessly on the street and flew back into the sky, but there was no sight of the ghost squid.

He flew back to where the other two had fallen only to find two separate green spots on the street. Danny had destroyed them.

Danny knew that if a ghost was "killed" their bodies would dissolve into nothing, leaving only some ectoplasmic residue behind. Apparently, this was what happened with the two ghost squids.

Danny could hardly believe what had just happened. In his ghost form he was able to physically touch ghosts and now destroy them. He was also awed by how he had lifted that sign like it was nothing.

Danny quickly flew back to his lab to run more tests.

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Vlad sat at his chair in the den by the fireplace. He was anxiously awaiting the return of his creations.

The ghost squid flew through the wall looking panicked. Vlad looked at it in surprise.

"Well," he said. "It seems Daniel Fenton has been affected the way I thought he would." The ghost squid just stared at his master. "Perhaps it is time to continue this experiment."

Vlad got out of his chair and walked over to his book case. He pulled on a book in the middle shelf and the case slid to the side revealing a secret passage way.

Vlad entered the passage way and the ghost squid followed him. There was much to do. Daniel Fenton was slowly turning into his favorite project.


	5. Chapter 5

Ten Years Ago:

Vlad Masters sat at the desk in his study writing theories he had on a new project. Ever since he had broken up with Maddie, he had become obsessed with new ghost projects. Vlad was slowly becoming a very powerful man and with any luck, in a few more years, he would have control over the ghost zone and the human world.

As Vlad wrote in his notebook the com on his desk beeped. He pressed the button on it to answer.

"Yes," he said annoyed. A deep voice responded.

"It's me," Vlad put his notebook in the top drawer of his desk and locked it.

"I'll let you in and be right down." He pressed another button on his desk to open his front gate and made his way to the entrance room of his mansion.

When he got there he saw a tall brutish looking man. The man had dark tanned skin, like he spent his days out in the sun, long black hair and a goatee. He had massive shoulders and muscles all over. He was wearing a black leather jacket, black pants and black boots. The man was holding a black safari hat in his hands while he examined a painting of Vlad on the wall.

"Good evening," Vlad said coming down the stairs. The man kept looking at the painting.

"Wow, you must really like yourself," the man said with a grin. Vlad came up beside him to look at the painting.

"I find it is best to be reminded of who you are, and what better way then to put up a very expensive painting of myself." The man just chuckled.

"I think a better way to be reminded of who you are is to do worth while things in your life." Vlad raised an eyebrow.

"Like kill things for money?" The man made a coughing noise.

"Yeah well, I do what I can." Vlad shook his head.

"Well, Mr. Burgan, if you come this way, we can talk business in my library." The man turned to Vlad and shrugged.

"Sure," he followed him.

Once they were seated in the big chairs in Vlad's library, they began to talk.

"Now Mr. Burgan, I'm sure you know why I called you here tonight." Mr. Burgan nodded.

"You want something dead, and call me Rick," he said.

"Well yes I do; also, I want to offer you a very rare opportunity to become something more." Rick looked at the other man in mild confusion.

"More?" Vlad nodded.

"Yes I am offering to make you more then just an average mercenary." Rick just stared at him. So Vlad continued. "What if I told you that I could make you a god?"

"I'd say that you were crazy," Rick chuckled.

"I can make it so you would never die, never age, and be stronger then anything on this planet." Rick got up.

"You are crazy; I don't like people wasting my time. In fact, I should kill you for making me come all the way out here." Vlad just smiled at the hunter. Rick became infuriated and grabbed Vlad by his shirt and pulled him out of his chair. "How about I wipe that smile off your face?"

Vlad continued to smile. "Let's just say I could do that to you, would you take it." Rick considered for a moment.

"Yeah, I guess I would, but what you're talking about is crazy." Vlad's eyes began to glow red and an evil smile appeared on his face.

"Not that crazy," Vlad grabbed Rick's hands and pushed them off effortlessly.

"Stay back you freak!" Vlad struck him in the head before the other man could do anything else. Rick fell to the ground unconscious.

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Rick awoke sometime later strapped to a table. He felt like someone had struck him with a hammer.

He tried to survey his surroundings only to find that his head was also strapped to the table, making it impossible for him to move. The mercenary heard beeping and saw flashing green lights. He began to struggle.

"Hey! What the hell is this?" He heard someone laugh.

"Calm down Mr. Burgan, struggling will only make this worse." Vlad stood over him and looked down at him wearing a lab coat. "I'm going to make you better." Rick struggled more.

"Let me go you psycho, I'll kill you!" Vlad just smiled, showing his teeth.

"That's impossible, but moving on." Vlad walked out of Rick's sight again. It was then Rick realized that there were wires hooked up all over his body and connected to something else lying on an identical table across from him. He couldn't make out what it was.

Vlad was punching something onto a computer consol. He then walked over to a table and had a syringe with a green liquid in it. The evil man walked over to Rick and stuck the needle in his arm.

"Arghh!" Rick bellowed in pain. "What did you just stick me with?"

"Relax, it is almost complete." Rick just struggled some more.

"What are you talking about?" Vlad sighed.

"You wouldn't understand, but I'll try and explain." He took a deep breath. "To put it simply, I am going to kill you and transfer your ghost into the body I designed." Rick didn't understand. And he showed it by yelling.

"This is nuts, let me go you fruitcake." Vlad ignored him.

He held out his hand and pointed his finger at Rick. The tip of his finger began to glow and a red beam shot out of it hitting Rick in the chest. The beam went through his chest killing him instantly.

The consoles began to light up around them and Vlad quickly ran over to one and punched some buttons. The wires sticking out of Rick started to glow green. The green glow went through the wired to the body lying on the other table.

At once, the body began to move. It got up off the bed, revealing itself to the room.

It was a large robotic body that resembled Rick's, except it was over seven feet tall. Its bald skull like head shot out a flaming green mohank and a matching goatee. It was wearing a black sleeveless shirt that showed off its huge metallic arms with identical black pants and boots. Its eyes lit up green. The huge robot staggered off the table.

"What have you done to me?" it said in a deep robotic voice. Vlad looked at his creation in amazement.

"I have made you the perfect hunter. With your ghost in that suit, you will never die and your power will be amazing." Rick just looked at him with emotionless robotic eyes. "Your spectral energy powering the suit will make you incredibly strong. I have also fitted the suit with multiple weapons and tools."

Rick looked at his new body in the mirror. "I will kill you for this!" He charged at Vlad with amazing speed and force.

Vlad reached into his coat and pulled out a remote to press a button on it. When he pressed the button, Rick stopped instantly.

"What happened?" Rick said in confusion. Vlad walked up to the robot and looked it in the eyes.

"You don't think I would give you suck awesome power and not have a way to control it, do you?" Rick didn't respond. "Now I could dismantle, killing you permanently, or you could cooperate and take advantage on what I have to offer you." Rick thought to himself for a minute.

"Ok," he finally said. Vlad pressed the button on his remote and Rick could move again.

"I will show you how to work your suit so you can truly be the world's greatest hunter. You will be a force to be reckoned with. All will fear you." At this Rick's metallic face curled into a smile.

"What's the catch?" Vlad returned the smile.

"Whenever I call upon you, you will do as I tell you. Other then that, you are free to do whatever you wish." Rick turned to him.

"I like that idea," Vlad placed his hand on the giant robot's arm.

"Good, now Mr. Burgan shall we get started?" Rick looked at his face in the mirror. He looked like some kind of skull like monster.

"Fine," he said. "But call me Skulker."

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Now:

Vlad Masters sat at the same desk, only this time he was writing theories on Danny Fenton. It was clear that the "accident" had affected the young scientist in many ways. With his new abilities he was able to destroy relatively dangerous ghosts. If Vlad's theories were correct, Danny would become a lot more powerful.

He sat there for a moment thinking of his options. Vlad wanted to see what the boy could do against a truly dangerous adversary. Then the idea came to him.

Vlad reached into his desk and pulled out a special communicator. He pressed the button on it and said:

"Skulker, I have an assignment for you."

_A/N: Hey everyone. Sorry I haven't updated sooner, I have had computer trouble. I hope you all like the story so far. I plan to keep this one going for a while. I just want to say thank you to all the people who read and reviewed my story. I do this for you. _


	6. Chapter 6

Hundreds of miles away Skulker was hunting his latest prey. He had been tracking it for almost a week now and it was finally time to strike. It was one of his favorite parts of hunting, studying his prey first. Even when he was alive it was his favorite thing to do.

It was a level five specter, a fairly powerful ghost. It was a ghost wolf, for lack of a better term. It was ten times bigger then a normal wolf, over twenty feet in length.

Skulker watched it eating a deer. He could easily take it out with a well placed rocket, but he wanted to fight it.

Slowly, the hunter crept up behind it. He raised his left arm and a laser cannon came out of his wrist. Skulker aimed at the wolf's leg and fired.

The green blast hit the ghost in the leg. The wolf howled in pain and turned to see Skulker coming at it.

The wolf crouched down and leapt at Skulker. Skulker jumped at it and met the ghost in the air wrestling it to the ground. The wolf bit him on the shoulder, but to no avail. Its teeth couldn't penetrate Skulker's suit.

Skulker grabbed the wolf by the neck and threw it to the ground. He then jumped back and allowed the wolf time to recover.

The ghost wolf got shakily to its feet and growled at Skulker. The mercenary smiled, showing its robotic teeth.

"Come on," he said. The ghost wolf charged at Skulker. A blade came out of his left wrist and Skulker drove it into the wolf's chest.

The wolf yelped in pain. Skulker slashed at it over and over again until it was nothing but a mass of green goo.

The hunter smiled at his latest victory and what was left of the ghost wolf's body dissolved into nothing. Just like that the fight was over.

Skulker couldn't help but be a little disappointed. This fight, along with many others, had not been very challenging. Everything he hunted, ghost and living, was almost too easy.

Ever since he had been turned into a ghost, nothing would give him a challenge anymore. He loved being a ghost now and was everything Vlad had promised he would be. Skulker truly was the best hunter in the world.

When he was first turned into a ghost, he was amazed at the new power he was given. While he still hated Vlad for killing him, he loved the way he was now.

Skulker's power was incredible. He had an arsenal of different high tech weapons used for hunting ghosts and humans. His strength was like nothing he ever experienced during life. And being a ghost gave him the ability to become invisible and intangible letting him go where no other hunter could not.

Things sure have come a long way ever since Vlad killed him. But Skulker still hated Vlad more then anything.

Even though he was gifted with powers beyond his wildest dreams, he still hated Vlad for turning him into a monster.

Skulker would never again experience the pleasures of a mortal life. Vlad had robbed that from him. Sure he was now the best hunter in the world, there was still times he missed being alive. But ever since he died, Skulker found himself forgetting his life more and more. He figured it was all for the best, especially with the things he had done while he was a ghost. But he vowed one day to get revenge on Vlad Masters for doing this to him.

But no matter what he did, Vlad always seemed to be ten steps ahead of him. The millionaire had made it so he could dismantle Skulker with a push of a button, making attacking him nearly impossible. And Vlad seemed to be something more then human. Skulker knew that Vlad had ghost like abilities, he just didn't know to what extent.

But Skulker was planning the day when he would get his revenge. He had learned a lot about ghost technology while he was a ghost and had found away to cut himself off from Vlad's control. Vlad just didn't know it yet.

He still did things for Vlad whenever he asked; letting the maniac think he still had control over him. And the things Vlad had him kill were always interesting to hunt. But Skulker wouldn't be taking orders from Vlad for much longer.

There was a loud beeping sound inside Skulker's head, signaling that Vlad was calling him. Skulker pressed a button on the side of his head.

"Yeah?" he said.

"Skulker, I have an assignment for you." The millionaire's voice filled his head.

"What do you want me to kill?"

"I am sending you the information as we speak." There was a moment of silence and then there was new information in Skulker's memory bank.

Skulker read the new information. It was about a man named Danny Fenton that lived in Amity Park that worked with Vlad.

"Is this whelp giving you problems or something?" Skulker asked in a bored voice.

"I didn't make you to ask questions. Just find him, study him if you wish, and eliminate him. I expect a full report when you're done." Skulker just shook his head.

"Consider him dead," Vlad disconnected with him.

Skulker pressed one of the many buttons on his belt. Metallic wings came out of his back. He took off into the air and began the long flight toward Amity Park.

Danny Fenton was in his lab typing on a computer. It had been almost a month since the accident. Danny had learned to control his new abilities better now and was trying to find a limit to his power.

His work had consumed him. It distracted him from the failure with the ghost portal. He had barely talked to his friends since he discovered his powers. Tucker stopped by his lab almost every day but Danny was too engrossed in his work to talk much. Whenever Tucker asked what he was working on Danny would only reply vaguely about a new ghost project.

Danny debated on whether to tell Tucker or not. He new his friend would be able to help him and add some insight on what was happening to him. But on the other hand, Danny was afraid to tell him for fear that he might tell the Afterlife.

Valerie had been trying to talk to Danny for a while as well. But Danny wouldn't even tell her what he was doing. This angered her so much, that she hasn't spoken to him in several days.

Danny wasn't worrying about this to much, his main concern was his new powers and whether or not this would have effects on his personality. He new that when a person became a ghost they sometimes manifested powers and became crazy. This was Danny's worse fear.

Another concern he had was if his condition would eventually kill him. Being half ghost seemed very risky in that area. But from what Danny had learned he was still perfectly healthy. It was all truly a big anomaly.

Danny was still busy typing when his cell phone rang. He picked it up expecting it to be Valerie or Tucker. He was surprised to see it was The Afterlife calling.

Danny quickly answered. "Fenton," he said.

"Dr. Fenton? Its George Marsh," Danny was relieved to hear the voice of his assistant.

"Mr. Marsh, what can I do for you?" His assistant sighed nervously.

"Mr. Masters has requested your immediate return to the Afterlife facility." Danny hesitated, fearing the worst.

"Do you know what this is about?" Mr. Marsh breathed heavily on the other side of the phone.

"Problems with the ghost portal, problems that only you seem to be able to fix," Danny almost jumped with joy.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." He hung up and quickly turned off his computer and put away his notes.

Problems with the ghost portal could be a very bad thing, but on the other hand it was good they were asking him to come back. That meant they weren't going to fire or arrest him, at least not yet.

Danny quickly ran up the stairs of his lab and out the door.

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Skulker stood outside Danny's house on top of a building across the street. He watched the young scientist run out of his house in excitement and get into his car and drive away. This assignment was turning out to be very boring.

There seemed to be nothing special about Danny Fenton. He was just some other scientist that Vlad wanted dead. It seemed simple enough. But Skulker was still disappointed. It seemed to be a waist of his talents.

This would be the last thing he did for Vlad. Skulker would follow Danny Fenton around, and then kill him. After he was done he would pay Vlad a visit and finally get his revenge.

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When Danny was finally at the Afterlife lab he had been told what the situation was. Apparently, all attempts to close the ghost portal had failed miserably. There was no way that the tear in the dimension could be closed. They all knew this was a possibility when the project was started, but now things seemed to be getting worse.

Even though the shields were now in place, the premature activation of the portal still contaminated the area more and more everyday. Also the shields were not as strong as they could have been and ghosts kept getting out. Most of the ghosts the Men in White could take care of, but there had been a few that had caused some serious damage before they were taken down.

Danny had spent the better part of the day making the shields stronger. At least now, no more ghosts should get out. But the other problem was getting it closed completely.

Tucker came up to Danny while he was looking at numbers on a computer. "How does it look?" he asked. Danny just shook his head.

"It is impossible to close this portal; the strain it would cause on this dimension would be catastrophic." Tucker looked over his shoulder at the numbers.

"Well you better find a way to close it," They both turned around to see a tall black man dressed in a white suit. It was Blake Runner, the head of the Men in White. He walked over to Danny with hostility in his voice.

"Mr. Runner, I didn't know you were here," Danny said trying to sound polite. Blake spit at the floor.

"Yeah I'm here, I have no choice. Because of your little experiment we now have a code red situation on our hands. There are so many ghosts manifesting in this town that I have to station my men on every street corner. It's been hell trying to keep this a secret from the general public. If you don't close this portal soon, so help me god, I'll throw you into it after I beat you to a bloody pulp." Danny winced at the statement. Blake stood a whole foot over him and was trying to use his size to intimidate him. Danny cleared his throat.

"Well, it's like I said, closing the portal at this point is impossible. If we were to try, the strain might cause a black hole effect, sucking everything from our dimension into the ghost zone. For now I have made shields strong enough to keep the ghosts inside." Blake still looked furious.

"Well that doesn't change the fact that there are ghosts all over the city. Damn it, I have already lost three of my men. This is all your fault!" Danny became angry now. He stood up to the larger man.

"I'm doing the best I can," Blake glared at the scientist.

"It's not good enough," he spat. Danny became even angrier.

"Get out of my face and let me do my job," At this Blake grabbed Danny and shoved him into a wall.

"How can you do your job with a broken neck?" His hands closed around Danny's throat.

"Hey! Calm down," Tucker yelled. Danny struggled against the larger man's strength.

"Let. Go." Danny gasped. His eyes flashed green for a second and he was able to push Blake off of him. Blake staggered back. The soldier was at a loss of words for a second. Before he could do anything else someone yelled.

"That is quite enough," Vlad came up behind Blake. "Let Dr. Fenton do his job and you do your job Mr. Runner." Blake scowled at everyone and left the room. Vlad looked at Danny.

"I hope for your sake, you find a way to fix all this," and with that he left Danny alone with Tucker. Danny slumped to the ground. Tucker looked at his friend not knowing what to say. Finally he said:

"When did you get so strong?" Danny just looked at him. "Sorry, anything I can do?" Danny just shook his head.

"No, I got myself into this mess; I'll find a way out." Tucker patted his friend on the back and left him alone. Danny looked up at the ghost portal.

He could completely understand Blake's anger with him. If it wasn't for him activating the ghost portal behind everyone's back, none of this would be happening. And now he had three men's death on his hands.

Danny put his head in his hands. There had to be a way to make all this right.


	7. Chapter 7

After Danny had been working for almost two days strait, Tucker finally convinced him to leave for little while.

"Don't worry, all of this will still be here tomorrow," he said. Danny, after a few minutes of arguing, agreed.

They both exited the huge underground facility through the elevator that led to the building above it. The building above it was a small computer company. Whenever anyone asked, that's where people from The Afterlife said they worked, Titan Computers.

Later, they were both having a late dinner at the Nasty Burger. Tucker was devouring his food while Danny picked at it, his mind elsewhere. Tucker noticed his friend's far away look.

"C'mon man, it's not that bad." Danny just kept looking at his food. "You will be able to fix this. Since you came back no more ghosts have gotten out." Danny slammed his hands on the table.

"What about the ghosts that are already out huh?" Tucker just gaped at him. "And what about the men that have been killed or injured trying to stop them. Oh god," he put his head in his hands. Tucker patted his friend on the shoulder.

"It will be alright." At this Danny stood up.

"No, but I will make this right….Somehow." He stormed out of the Nasty Burger. Tucker watched his friend leave at a loss for words.

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Danny walked down the street, not going anywhere in particular. Everything was wrong. This was not what he envisioned when he started to make the ghost portal. He couldn't help but think that his dad would be disappointed in him.

"Dad, I'm sorry," he said into the night air. Before he could think of anything else he felt a familiar chill go up his spine and his breath hung in the air. He immediately looked to his left down the road.

A mac truck turned the corner and hit garbage cans on the side walk. Chasing the truck was a man flying in the air in grey overalls and hat with blue skin.

"The Box Ghost?" Danny remembered being attacked by the psychotic specter almost a month ago at the Afterlife. _Hadn't they caught him_? Danny thought to himself. The ghost was flying around the truck cackling loudly.

Danny jumped out of the way just in time as the truck came flying down the side walk. He looked around to see no Men in White chasing it. _Something has to be done,_ he thought.

Quickly, Danny jumped in a nearby alley. With a simple mental command, his entire body lit up and he changed into his ghost half. Now all the exhaustion from working over two days went away instantly as he took off into the sky.

The truck had crashed into a building and the driver had fled with the Box Ghost chasing after him. The ghost put his hands out and the truck began to float in the air. The truck went over fifty feet into the air with the Box Ghost laughing madly. He set his eyes on the terrified driver and mentally heaved the truck at him.

Without thinking Danny flew and snatched the driver out of the way before the truck came crashing down. Danny looked at the driver.

"Run!" he ordered. The driver happily agreed and ran down the street and out of sight. Danny flew up into the air and looked at the other ghost.

"You!" the Box Ghost said glaring at him. "I told you that you would face my wrath. Now I will destroy you." The truck floated in that air again and the Box Ghost launched it at Danny.

Danny quickly phased through it and the truck passed through him harmlessly. He grinned with satisfaction.

"Ha, not so bad now are yahhhhh!" The truck came back and hit Danny. He was sent flying to the ground.

Danny got to his feet shakily. The Box Ghost was still glaring at him from above.

"Beware," it snarled. The truck came flying at Danny again. The half ghost flew into the air, around the flying truck, and struck the Box Ghost in the face.

The ghost went soaring through the air and hit a nearby building and through the wall. He phased through the rubble and flew at the half ghost.

"You will pay for that you pasty haired fool," he held his left hand in the air and three white boxes formed. The Box Ghost threw them at him and Danny barely had time to throw his hands up to block them when a green shield appeared in front of his body. The boxes hit the shield and blew up harmlessly.

"Interesting," Danny said. The Box Ghost became enraged and flew at Danny with all his might. Before he could strike a green blast came from the ground and went between the two. They both looked down to see a dozen Men in White soldiers pointing ecto rifles at them.

"That's enough," one of the soldiers yelled. Before either of the ghosts could do anything, three small helicopters surrounded them in the sky. Each of the helicopters held another half dozen soldiers.

"Oh no," Danny said. This was bad.


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update. It was not my intention to leave you all hanging for so long. So now I give you all a action packed chapter. Enjoy!_

Danny looked around quickly, weighing his options. The Men in White agents would fry him if he even blinked. And the Box Ghost was still a threat. If the Box Ghost moved then they would fire at him and Danny. He flew as fast as he could higher into the sky.

The half ghost got only twenty feet away before over a dozen ecto rifles were fired at him. Most of the shots connected and Danny fell to the ground.

Surprisingly, Danny wasn't destroyed by the blasts but was left in bad condition. His black hazmat suit was left torn and green blood ran down his mouth and there were deep cuts all over his body with more green blood oozing out.

The Men in White agents closed in around him. Danny got to his hands and knees then collapsed back to the ground. There was no way he could move in this condition. But he could feel his body slowly healing. Maybe if he could stall long enough, his body would heal enough for him to escape.

"Wait," Danny said in a strained voice. "You don't understand, I don't want to hurt you." Some of the agents started laughing.

"Did you hear that?" one asked. "You are in no position to hurt us ghost" Another agent held out a small thermos looking device. It was a portable ghost containment unit that Danny's father designed years ago. Now it was standard for all Men in White field agents to carry. Danny could not help but see the irony of being captured by his father's own invention. He could not stall long enough to heal; he was going to be captured.

Just then the Box Ghost shouted above them, "You will all pay for trying to capture me," The psychotic ghost held its hands over his head and a gigantic glowing box materialized between them.

The Box Ghost threw the energy box at one of the helicopters. The helicopter exploded in a burst of flame.

"Take cover!" a Man in White agent yelled. All of the agents scattered to avoid being hit by pieces of metal. Some were struck by falling debris and fell to the ground limp. Others fired their rifles at the Box Ghost.

The Box Ghost managed to dodge the assault and threw another energy box at the agents on the ground, disintegrating three of them.

The two remaining helicopters surrounded the Box Ghost. The helicopters were equipped with large ecto cannons on each side. They fired at the ghost.

He was able to dodge one blast but the other sent him flying through the sky and out of sight. The helicopters flew after the ghost while half a dozen vans pulled up to attend to the injured and dying agents.

All while this was happening, Danny lay on the ground powerless to help the Men in White. He cursed himself for not being able to help.

The young hero slowly got to his feet. He was still in a great deal of pain and barely able to move. One of the agents saw him get up.

"Hey you ghost freak, don't move!" Three uninjured agents surrounded him. Two pointed their guns at him while the other took out the ghost thermos. The agent uncapped the thermos and pressed a button on the side. A white beam of light shot out of it straight at Danny.

Danny, with all of his strength, flew up and over the white blast and became invisible. Before the agents could track him he was long gone.

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Skulker had lost track of his prey. He had followed Danny from his house and was going to attack him when he entered the Afterlife facility. Vlad had specifically told him not to enter the facility or go within two miles of it. He had thought maybe to just disobey Vlad and enter the underground lab anyway but thought better of it. The hunter would wait for his prey to come to him.

After waiting for almost two days, Skulker finally saw Danny leave the Afterlife lab with a tall skinny black man. The information in his databanks showed that this was Tucker Foley. But that was irrelevant. Skulker would now finish his scrawny prey once and for all.

He had followed them to an eating establishment called the Nasty Burger. Not long after Danny had stormed out. Now was his perfect chance to kill him.

Skulker became invisible and got within striking distance when the Box Ghost came chasing the truck. He had to fly out of the way in order to avoid being hit by the truck. In the split second it took him to avoid being hit, Skulker lost sight of his prey.

The hunter cursed and began scanning the area for him. Before he could spot Danny another ghost appeared. This ghost was dressed in a black hazmat suit with white gloves and boots. Its hair was chalk white and its eyes were glowing green.

Skulker checked his data banks for information on this ghost but found nothing. He knew of the Box Ghost, but this new ghost man was a mystery. He watched the battle between the two ghosts. Apparently the ghost man was trying to stop the other ghost from hurting people. _Pathetic, _Skulker though.

He didn't think much of this ghost until he saw him fight. Maybe he would hunt this ghost some time in the near future. It seemed worthy enough.

The fight was ended abruptly when the Men in White showed up. Skulker began to fly away from the fight when he was detected by some Men in White agents.

He became visible and flew around the corner away from the fighting. A half dozen Men in White agents chased after him down a alleyway. When Skulker was far enough away from the other fight he turned on them. An evil smile appeared on his face.

The Men in White agents pointed their guns at the robot. Skulker brought his hands up in a defensive stance.

"Destroy this one," one agent said. "This ghost is known as Skulker. It is very dangerous and wields a great variety of weapons." Skulker chuckled.

"I won't need any of them to beat you clowns." Skulker lunged at the agent closest to him and punched him in the face, sending him flying into a wall. Before the others could react, Skulker jumped up and kicked another in the stomach.

The other agents doubled back and fired at him. Skulker dodged the ecto lasers and jumped through the air. He landed on one of the agents, knocking him to the ground. The hunter stomped down on the fallen agent's neck and broke it.

"Retreat!" one of the agents yelled. The remaining three agents ran back down the alley.

Skulker easily caught up with them. He grabbed two of them by the back of the neck and banged their heads together, killing them instantly. The last one ran for his life trying to call for back up when the ghost hunter caught up with him.

Skulker rapped his arms around the agent and squeezed. He heard a crunching sound and tossed the dead agent aside.

The mercenary had killed them with minimal effort. He turned invisible and flew above the buildings to look at the aftermath of the other battle.

Many of the Men in White lay dead or dying. The Box Ghost and the ghost man had disappeared and there was still no sight of his prey.

Skulker flew toward Danny's house. He would kill this insignificant whelp, then he would move on to bigger and better things by killing Vlad.

_A/N: I hoped you all liked this chapter. Once again sorry it took so long to update, hopefully it won't take as long next time. Next chapter, Danny and Skulker finally go head to head. It is sure to be another action packed chapter. And thank you all who review my story. It really helps._


	9. Chapter 9

Danny fazed through the ceiling of his house into his room. His whole body felt like it was on fire. The wounds he had gotten from the ecto lasers were slowly healing.

It had taken every last bit of energy he had to make it back to his house. The Men in White had been distracted by the carnage left by the Box Ghost, which was a good thing on one hand, but a really bad thing on the other A lot of them had been injured and there was nothing he could do to help them.

Danny scolded himself for his inability to help them. But he had other problems to worry about. He couldn't estimate how long it would take him to heal his wounds.

He dragged himself down to his lab to try and run tests, but collapsed on the cold floor. The pain was beginning to subside, but it was leaving him totally drained of energy. He had to keep himself conscious long enough to run tests.

Danny got to his feet shakily and walked over to the mirror. The wounds he had on his face and body were healing before his eyes. Also, his hazmat suit was repairing itself as well.

He risked changing back to his human form. His body lit up and he was human again. All of his injuries melted back into his skin and disappeared and the pain had lessened to a dull ache, finally, Danny collapsed from exhaustion.

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A few hours later Danny was awakened to someone shaking him.

"Danny? Are you ok?" Danny opened his eyes to see Tucker standing over him. He sat up and placed his hands on his head.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said in a breathless voice. "I must have worked myself to hard or something." He got to his feet and looked at his friend. Tucker looked back with worry on his face.

"You are working yourself to hard man," Danny just shrugged. "I think you need some fresh air."

"No I'm fine," Danny began.

"Just take a walk with me and forget about work for five minutes." Danny was about to refuse but decided to give in. A walk would be nice.

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Outside Danny's house Skulker waited to strike. He was going to just barge in when he walked out with his friend. Now was a perfect opportunity.

He flew above, following them down the road. The hunter held out his left hand and a laser cannon came out of his wrist. He put Danny in his sights and prepared to fire.

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Danny and Tucker walked down the street talking. Tucker was trying to get his friend to tell him what was going on.

"I'm just saying, you have been acting weird ever since the accident with the portal."

"There is just so much to do. The portal is working, and I am trying to get Vlad and the rest of our bosses to let me send cameras into the ghost zone. And there is still the problem with the ghosts that have gotten out. I got a lot on my plate right now." Tucker nodded in agreement.

"I know but don't overdo it. If you keep going on like this it is going to kill yoahhhh!" The front of Danny's stomach exploded with a green laser going through it. Danny fell to his knees gasping.

"Oh my god!" Tucker yelled. He went down to Danny to keep him from falling to the ground. "Stay with me man, I'm going to call for help, just try and stay awake."

"Tu-Tucker……" Blood ran down Danny's mouth. His body lit up and he changed to his ghost form. At once the large whole in his stomach disappeared and Tucker fell back in shock.

Danny got to his feet with an intense look on his face. He looked at his amazed friend and tried to find a way to explain. But suddenly he felt a cold chill go up his spine and his breath hung in the air.

"Amazing," a deep robotic sounding voice said. A giant humanoid looking robot landed on the ground in front of them. It towered over both of them standing at least seven feet tall. It wore black pants and matching sleeveless shirt. Its head looked liked a skull and it had a flaming green mohawk and matching goatee. The monstrous figure glared at them.

"Well, this is unexpected," it said. "I would never have thought that you would also be that mystery ghost man. This assignment might be interesting after all." Danny glared back at the robot.

"What are you talking about, who are you and why are you doing this." The giant robot smiled an evil smile.

"I am Skulker, world's greatest hunter and mercenary. I was sent here to kill you. Now defend yourself, I want this to be a little challenging." Danny still glared back wanting answers.

"Who sent you to kill me?" Skulker laughed.

"That is confidential and irrelevant; you are going to die now." Danny gave Tucker a quick glance.

"Run, and don't tell anyone what you have just seen." Tucker gaped at Danny and tried to argue. "RUN!" His voice boomed and echoed through the streets. His friend nodded and ran. Danny turned to Skulker. "If we have to do this then let's go." Skulker nodded.

Before Skulker could strike first, Danny flew at him and punched him in the stomach. Skulker staggered back and tried to say something, but before he could, Danny struck him in his metallic face.

Skulker was sent crashing back into a parked car. Danny flew at him again and punched him under the chin and was launched into the air. He stopped himself with his metal wings and glared down at Danny.

Danny flew up at him ready to strike again, but Skulker blocked his attack and countered with his own, striking Danny in the stomach with his large fists.

The half ghost fell back and crashed into the ground. He shot back up, but Skulker spun around in the air and kicked him.

Danny shot the hunter and angry look. "I'm going to turn you to scrap." Skulker chuckled.

"Tough talk whelp, you are no match for me." He shot his wrist cannon at Danny. The laser hit him in the chest.

"Ahhhrgh," Danny yelled in pain. Skulker flew at Danny while he was stunned and grabbed him by the throat. He through the young hero to the ground.

Danny landed flat on his face. Green blood trickled down his mouth. He got to his feet and prepared to fly back up when Skulker flew down and swung at him with his wrist blade. Danny jumped back, dodging the attack and hit Skulker with all his might in the face.

The mighty blow sent the evil hunter flying back into a building, crashing through it. He staggered out of the hole he made in the building wall with a big dent on his face. Before he could recover, Danny picked up a nearby parked car over his head and chucked it at the robot.

The car hit him and exploded on impact. Skulker came out of the smoke and debris with an angry look on his face.

"For that, I will wear your pelt on the foot of my bed," A small compartment on his shoulder opened on his left shoulder. A rocket launcher came out and was pointed at Danny.

Three rockets were launched out. He dodged the first one but the other two hit their target.

There was a green explosion and Danny disappeared in the smoke. Skulker waited for the smoke to clear and flew over.

Danny lay sprawled on the ground. Skulker picked him up by the throat and raised him to eye level. He held his blade to the side of Danny's head.

"Now I will carve up your face."

_A/N: Sorry about the cliff hanger ending again, but I have to keep you guys wanting more. I hope to update this again soon, but with my crazy schedule you just never know. Let me know what you all think. To be concluded, next chapter. _


	10. Chapter 10

"Now I will carve up your face," Danny opened his eyes in time to see Skulker bring back his wrist blade. He closed his eyes and prepared for the worst when he heard a loud crash.

Skulker dropped Danny and was sent flying over his head. Danny opened his eyes to see a beat up old jeep. The car had hit the hunter. Tucker got out of the car with a triumphant look on his face.

"Tucker?" Danny said in disbelief. Tucker ran over to Danny and helped him up.

"I have no idea what's going on," he said. "But I want in on the fun." Danny couldn't help but smile at his friend.

"I knew your old jeep would be good for something," Tucker was about to say something when he heard a roar of frustration. Skulker had flown up into the air and aimed his wrist laser at the both of them.

"You will pay for that," he fired.

Danny held up his hands and a green shield blocked the both of them from the laser attack. He looked at his friend.

"Run, I can take care of this now," Tucker nodded in agreement.

"Ok, now I have to think on what to tell my insurance company," He ran off leaving Danny to fight.

Danny flew up and met the hunter in the air. They wrestled back and forth, neither one of them gaining the upper hand. Danny finally let go and put some distance between him and Skulker.

The evil robot glared at him. He fired more green lasers at his foe, but Danny easily dodged them.

"You'll have to do better then that," he taunted. Skulker became infuriated and threw grenades he had on his belt. The grenades exploded around Danny knocking him back to the ground.

"Don't worry whelp, I can do a lot better," He reached into a compartment on his belt and brought out a small metal pipe. The pipe extended to a large double bladed staff.

Skulker flew at Danny and swung the staff at him. The staff missed him by inches cutting off a single piece of white hair.

Danny phased through the second strike and grabbed the staff. With all his might he pulled it out of Skulker's hand and swung the blade back at him. The blade cut the hunter across his metallic chest.

Skulker looked down at the cut in his metal and growled. He prepared to attack again when he heard a beep in his helmet. It was Vlad.

"Not now," he growled. Vlad's voice was ringed through his head.

"That will be all, I am calling off the hit," Skulker nearly fell over in surprise.

"What?! I am about to finish him off. You can't….." Vlad cut him off.

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, stand down or I will disable you and let him tear you apart." Skulker almost let him know that he couldn't be disabled anymore. Instead he said:

"How have you been watching this?" He heard Vlad laugh on the other line.

"I have eyes everywhere, now stand down. This is your last warning." Skulker put his hands down. Danny was looking at the hunter in confusion.

"Hearing voices, that's crazy, even for a ghost." Skulker glared at the half ghost.

"This isn't over boy, you haven't seen the last of me," He turned to go but Danny yelled.

"I don't think so Skulker, we will finish this here and now," he flew at Skulker ready to strike, but the hunter threw a flash grenade blinding Danny for a second. When he regained his eye sight, Skulker was gone.

"Damm," he said in frustration. "What was that all about? I can't let him run free." He took off into the air to search for the hunter.

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Later, in his mansion outside of town, Vlad sat in his office. From what he saw from the fight with Skulker, Danny had grown very powerful indeed. If he was this powerful now, who knows how strong he would be in a few years. He had to control him.

Just then, Skulker crashed through the wall of his office, sending pieces of wood and dust everywhere. Vlad looked at the hunter in anger.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? I didn't send for you." The hunter walked up to his desk and glared at him.

"This was all just some kind of test?" he nearly yelled. "You were just using me to see how strong that freak was?" Vlad smiled evilly.

"Very perceptive, yes, I was using you. But that's why I made you. You are my personal weapon." Skulker pounded his hand down on the middle of the desk breaking it in two. Vlad looked down at it in mild surprise.

"I won't be your tool anymore. From this day on, I am done doing your dirty work." Vlad looked at the hunter in amusement.

"Is that so? Well you don't have a choice in the matter, now do you?" he reached into his chest pocket and brought out the remote to disable Skulker. He pressed the button on it, but nothing happened. Skulker had an arrogant smile "Oh, cheese logs,"

Skulker grabbed Vlad by the shirt and threw him out the door and down the stairs. Vlad landed hard on the cold floor next to the entrance door.

Skulker jumped down the steps and looked down at Vlad on the floor. He smiled at him.

"That won't work on me anymore." Vlad got shakily to his feet. His hair was ruffled and there was a slight trickle of blood running down his face.

"Well done, you have somehow escaped my control, but no matter." Skulker looked at the millionaire in slight confusion. He must have a concussion or something. He was clearly outmatched.

Suddenly, Vlad's entire body was encased in black light and he transformed. His skin turned a light blue, his hair went from long and grey to black and spiky. His eyes went from brown to dark red and his teeth had fangs. Finally his clothes transformed to a white hazmat suit with black gloves and a long white cape.

Skulker gaped at his new form. He was taken back for a second. He drew his fist back and threw a punch with all his might.

Vlad caught it like it was nothing. He back handed Skulker into a wall. The hunter looked at the evil man. His strength was incredible.

"How….?" he began to ask. But just then Vlad brought up his hand and a purple energy beam shot out at Skulker. The beam blew his arm off. Skulker gasped. "You are just like him." Vlad nodded.

"I am more then you can imagine," He shot another purple energy bolt at him. This time his entire body blew up in pieces of scrap metal. What remained of his once great battle suit lay on the floor in a heap of metal. A green mist rose from it and disappeared.

Vlad changed back to his human form and spat at the ground. He was disappointed he had to destroy Skulker, but he had still served his purpose. If everything went according to plan, he would have a more powerful weapon at his disposal.

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After hours of searching, Danny finally gave up looking for Skulker. He had flown around the entire city looking for the evil hunter, but found no trace.

The evil ghost robot had raised some questions. Someone wanted Danny dead. They wanted it so bad that they sent some super powerful ghost robot after him.

Danny had read about Skulker in the Men in White ghost files. He was an extremely dangerous ghost. It was some kind of ghost entity inside a robotic battle suit, truly fascinating, if he hadn't been trying to kill him. He had to get to the bottom of this.

Danny phased through the roof of his house and landed in his kitchen. He changed back to human and sat at his kitchen table. It had been a long day. He looked across the table to see his friend Tucker and nearly jumped with surprise.

"Tucker, God don't do that," Tucker just smiled.

"I came here when I couldn't figure out what to do," he explained. "I debated on whether or not to call the Men in White. But I figured that was a bad idea, at least for now. I see you survived fighting your robot friend. What was that all about?" Danny shrugged and sat back in his chair.

"I don't know, that was Skulker, he is some kind of ghost mercenary. I don't know what he wanted with me." Tucker narrowed his eyes.

"I'm not talking about that, what are you?" Danny looked down at the ground uncomfortable.

"I know this will sound crazy, but I am some kind of half ghost." Tucker looked at his friend in confusion.

"Half ghost?" Danny nodded.

"Yeah that is my best way to explain it. Ever since the accident with the ghost portal I can transform into a ghost. But I am still a human. I know it doesn't make any sense, but there you go." Tucker didn't say anything for a minute. He took off his red had and scratched his head.

"Well if I hadn't seen it for myself, I would say you are crazy. How can this be?" Danny shrugged again.

"I don't know. All of the ecto radiation from the portal has affected me in a weird way. I am some type of anomaly."

"No doubt about that, have you told anyone else?" Danny looked at his friend like he was nuts.

"Hell no, I don't want the scientists at the Afterlife to dissect me. Who knows what the Men in White would do. It would destroy my career, not to mention my life. I think we will keep this between us for now." Tucker looked at his friend with an odd expression.

"Maybe I'll tell them for you," he said. "I'm no good at keeping secrets." Danny glared at him.

"You wouldn't," Tucker glared back then broke out laughing.

"No way man, your secret is safe with me." Danny let out a sigh of relief. "But I wouldn't mind seeing what you can do and running some tests of my own some time."

"Sure thing, I'll show you my notes. Wow this feels so much better telling someone." He smiled. Tucker was silent for a minute, just looking at Danny. Finally he said:

"So," Danny gave him a blank look.

"So?" he said back.

"What is your super hero name going to be?" Danny nearly fell of his chair in surprise.

"Super hero? Trust me, I am no hero."

"Oh c'mon, you can totally be a super hero." Danny began to dismiss the idea, but then he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Well, I do want to help get rid of all these ghosts around town, I mean it's my fault they're here to begin with." Tucker pounded his hand on the table.

"It's not your fault they're here, but if you want to help get rid of them, you are going to need a name for yourself." Danny looked at him thoughtfully.

"What is this, a Saturday morning cartoon? Get real Tucker."

"Well you can't tell the ghosts your name is Danny." Danny got up from the table to get some food from the refrigerator.

"Why not, nothing is wrong with that." Tucker just looked up at his friend.

"Fine then, how about Danny _Phantom_," Danny nearly dropped his food from laughing.

"Danny Phantom? What am I fourteen?" An irritated look passed over Tucker's face.

"Ok, how about just Phantom?" Danny stopped laughing long enough to think about it.

"Phantom? You know, it doesn't sound half bad." Tucker clapped his hands.

"Alright then, evil ghosts everywhere look out, Phantom is on the case." He jumped up on the table and struck a heroic pose. Danny sat down and sighed.

"What have I gotten myself into?"

_A/N: End of my first story arch. I plan to write more in the future. I am open to suggestions on who Danny can fight next. Feel free to tell me who you think he should fight. I am currently in the process of creating the next story arch for this. Let me know what you think. Once again I want to thank all who commented on my story. It really helped. Until next time my loyal readers. _


	11. Chapter 11

It was a peaceful night in Amity Park. Most of its citizens were safely tucked away in their beds. Those few who were still awake partying or doing their respective night jobs were lost in their own world.

The silence was shattered by a man on an old beat up motorcycle tearing through the streets at breakneck speed. He had shoulder length dirty blonde hair, his skin was light grey. He wore a long dirty trench coat over his scrawny figure. Following him, were three other ghost bikers.

"C'mon boys," the leader said. "We are gonna rock this town!" The other three bikers whooped their approval.

They sped down the street until they passed a police car. The lead biker sped around and the others followed suit. They stopped in the middle of the road and waited for the car to come speeding toward them with their lights flashing. Two cops got out of the car and approached them.

"Alright you punks this….." one cop began to say, but stopped when he caught sight of the ghost bikers. "What in God's name are you?"

"Are they glowing?" his partner asked. The ghosts laughed and began riding their bikes in circles around the cops. One of the cops drew his gun and tried to point it at the insane bikers.

"F-Freeze," he said shakily. The blond biker laughed loudly as he rode around them.

"Those guns can't hurt us, we are already dead," He pulled a chain out of his jacket and flung it at the officer, knocking the gun out of his hand. The rest of the bikers stopped and waited behind their leader. "No one can stop us; we will turn this town upside down."

"Not if I can help it," A loud voice said from over head. The bikers looked up to see a ghost man with chalk white hair and green eyes come flying at them. He was wearing a black hazmat suit with white gloves and boots.

Phantom flew at the leader and knocked him off his bike. The other bikers gasped and then they all oooooed in sync. They looked at their fallen leader to see what he would do next.

"You'll pay for that punk; no one touches Johnny 13 and gets away with it." Phantom hovered in the air with his arms crossed looking unimpressed.

"So you're Johnny 13 huh, I'm not impressed," he taunted.

Johnny 13 had been an active ghost even before the ghost portal opened. He was the ghost of a biker that rode from town to town, terrorizing anyone he came in contact with. The biker himself wasn't anything special, but his shadow was said to be exceptionally powerful, but Danny estimated that he was more then capable to take care of it. And now he had found himself a gang since he was last heard from.

"I'm gonna make you eat those words man," His shadow sprung to life and flew out of the ground at Phantom. The shadow resembled Johnny, only it was all black with white eyes and its entire body was wavy.

Johnny 13's shadow flew at Phantom and struck. Phantom dodged the first strike but was caught in the chin by a second. He staggered back holding his chin. Before he could recover, the shadow flew at him and tackled the half ghost to the ground.

Phantom struggled against its attacks, but the shadow was gnawing at his neck like a crazed animal. It bit down and green blood ran down Phantom's chest. He screamed in pain and threw the shadow off him into the police car. The police scattered to avoid the shadow ghost.

Phantom flew at the ghost and repetitively hit it. The shadow took the beating and struck back sending Phantom flying.

It was then Danny remembered the reports about Johnny 13. His shadow seemed to be weakened by a lot of light or water. If only he could find water. He looked to the right and saw a fire hydrant.

"Bingo," the hybrid said. He flew over to the hydrant and looked back at the shadow. "Come and get me you lousy excuse for a ghost." The shadow became angered and its hands formed sharp razors. It flew at Danny and flung its razor hands at him.

Phantom jumped back, "Whoa!" It struck again but this time connected with the fire hydrant. Water shot up, hitting the shadow and reducing it to a black puddle.

Phantom then looked over at Johnny 13 who had been commanding his shadow the whole time. He flew at him and grabbed the biker by the throat, holding him against the wall.

"Ah," Johnny yelled. "A little help guys," At once the other three ghost bikers tackled Phantom to the ground. Phantom flung one of the bikers off of him and managed to break free of the other two. He flew up into the sky over the buildings.

The bikers flew up after him on their bikes. Once Danny was high enough he turned around to face them.

He reached to his belt and tossed an ecto grenade at the trio of bikers. It exploded in a flash of green light, disintegrating two of them. Since he started fighting ghosts regularly, Phantom made himself a utility belt with a number of different ghost hunting equipment on it.

The remaining biker looked at the hero in shock. Phantom gave him a menacing look.

"Did I scare you?" The biker glared at Danny and flew up to meet him.

Phantom struck the biker in the face sending him flying back down to Earth. His bike crashed somewhere next to him and blew up. The biker looked up at his attacker with terrified eyes.

Before Danny could land the finishing strike, a chain was rapped around his neck. Phantom gasped and turned around to see Johnny 13.

"You fried my gang, now I'm gonna fry you." Johnny 13 yanked harder on the chain, bringing Phantom down on his face. Johnny stomped down on his head with his dirty boot, driving the young ghost's face into the ground.

Phantom phased through his boot and flew over head. The ghost biker glared up at him. He flew down and grabbed him by the coat and threw him down the dark street.

Johnny 13 staggered to his feet just in time to be kicked in the face, back to the ground. Green blood ran down his mouth and he tried to get back up, but Phantom grabbed him again by the neck and held him at eye level. A look of fear came across the biker's face.

"Hey man," he pleaded. "We were just messing around, no need to do anything hasty." Phantom's grip tightened on Johnny's throat.

"Well then I guess I'll just let you go." A look of hope was now on Johnny's face.

"Really?" he asked hopefully. Phantom smiled.

"No." He threw Johnny down on the ground hard. "But at least I won't turn you into a mass of ectoplasm like your buddies." He reached to his belt and brought out his own Fenton Thermos. Johnny slid back on the ground in fear.

"Skull, help me," he called out to his remaining gang member. No one answered.

"Looks like your friend ran out on you," Phantom taunted. Johnny held up his hands.

"Wait can't we talk about this?" Phantom answered by uncapping his thermos and pressing the button on the side. A beam of white light shot out, engulfing Johnny. The biker screamed as he was pulled inside the thermos.

Once the process was complete, Phantom capped it and placed it back on his belt. He looked around for the last ghost biker, but it was soon apparent that he had run out when things got bad.

_Oh well_, Phantom though. That ghost would be captured soon enough. Without Johnny 13 to lead him, it was only a matter of time before Danny or the Men in White caught him. His main goal had been Johnny 13.

Phantom had been looking for him for a few days, ever since he heard he was in town. Now that he finally caught him, he felt relieved.

Hunting ghosts had seemed like a bad idea when Tucker had recommended it almost two months ago. But ever since he started, Danny had captured or destroyed dozens of ghosts. Most of them hadn't been very powerful. But then again some of them had really tested Phantom's abilities.

He had also had several more encounters with the Men in White. Danny had tried his best to avoid confrontations with then, but in the end he was always forced to resort to violence to get away. Luckily none of them had been seriously hurt.

Unfortunately, they saw him as a threat that needed to be destroyed at all costs. They didn't see his selfless acts of heroism as what they were; they saw it as a powerful ghost eliminating the competition. Phantom was now one of the most wanted ghosts on their list. It had become very frustrating.

One of the only good things that had come out of this was that Phantom had better control of his abilities and he had saved countless lives. He seemed to be getting stronger every day.

But his ghost hunting had put even more strain on his relationship with Valerie. Since he started fighting the town's ghosts, he hardly spent any time with her. Whenever she questioned him about it, he would just say he was working late hours at the lab.

Also his adventures at night would make him tired during the day, making it harder to do his work for the Afterlife. Vlad has been on him constantly. He has expected Danny to make a functional camera that could go into the Ghost Zone. But he has yet to finish it.

The older billionaire had seemed to change his attitude toward the young scientist drastically since the accident. He was now crueler toward Danny and ridiculed his work in front of the other scientists. But Danny didn't let it bother him. He was to busy with his own work to worry about how his boss treated him.

As he flew up into the sky he looked over at the town's clock tower. It was almost four o'clock in the morning. He had to get home and attempt to get some sleep. He had a very important meeting with his psychiatrist in the morning. But that was not what he was worried about. His psychiatrist also happened to be his sister, and he knew from past experiences that being late to see her would only make the session longer and more unbearable.

_A/N: So, here is the beginning of a new arch. I hoped you all liked this chapter. This was mainly just a filler chapter and I wanted to put a lot of action in it. I'm still having trouble thinking of the main villain for this arch. I have some ideas on who I'm going to use, but I'm still open to ideas. Let me know who you want Danny to fight and I'll see what I can do, and don't worry, my version of Sam will be in the next chapter. Once again, thanks to all who have commented on my story. Until next time…._


	12. Chapter 12

Danny sat patiently in the waiting room in his sister's office. He had come a little early and his sister was still with another patient. Danny sighed and looked around the small waiting room. It had a nice homely look, probably to make people feel more comfortable.

Voices could be heard at the office door as it opened. His sister emerged next to a small boy with bucked teeth and a pink hat. The boy couldn't have been more then eight.

"Just remember Timmy," his sister said. "Gary is only real inside of you, and you have to learn to find other ways to express yourself." The little boy nodded with a big smile.

"Thanks Dr. Fenton, I will try to remember that," the little boy said in a squeaky voice. He went to his parents, whom his sister spoke with quietly for a minute, then the little family left the office.

Danny got up and walked through his sister's office door. She smiled and shook her head.

"That Timmy is such a nice boy," she said. "I sure hope he finds a more creative outlet in the future." Danny just smiled and looked at his sister.

Her name was Jasmine, Jazz for short. She had long auburn hair that came to the middle of her back and light blue eyes. She wore a black business skirt and a blue headband.

Jazz was Danny's big sister and had been looking out for him all his life. Sometimes Danny had thought her to be a little over protective, but he still loved her with all his heart. She had been there for Danny when their father died and helped him through a hard time.

Jazz knew of Danny's work to a certain extent. She knew he studied spectral anomalies and helped a secret government organization, just like their father, but not the specifics. Although she never really approved of the rest of her family's career choice, she still supported them.

She had been a psychiatrist in Amity Park for almost three years. Her colleagues had labeled her as one of the most brilliant psychiatrists in the country. Danny had been seeing her since his father died.

Although he didn't show it much, Danny was still deeply troubled by his father's death. It was never confirmed legally, but his father had been murdered by some kind of ghost.

Jack Fenton had spent his entire life studying and hunting ghosts ,making a few enemies along the way. Some kind of ghost murdered him in his own lab several years ago. Danny was the one that found him. The image of his father's corpse had been burned into his head and even now he was still having nightmares. The ghost was still at large.

Jazz had helped him through the worst of it but still felt it necessary to have Danny visit her once every two weeks.

Danny sat down at the couch in Jazz's office and made himself comfortable. Jazz went through some papers on her desk and after a few minutes of small talk began with the session.

"So, how have the nightmares been?" She asked. Danny winced at the change of subject.

"Better," he finally said. "I haven't had one in a while now." Jazz listened and nodded. "I sometimes wake up in the night and still think about it," he admitted. "I can't help it; I mean how do you get an image like that out of your head."

"It's like I have told you before, you have to get past what you saw, and the only way to do that is to talk about it." Danny sighed. It was a very hard thing to talk about. He had only shared the experience with a few people.

"I walked down to the lab, like I always did, and found him lying there on the floor," he paused for a second with the memory coming back to him. "The lab was completely trashed. There were bruises all over his face, blood running down his mouth and..." He struggled to continue. Jazz watched him patiently. "A hole was burned through his chest. There was blood everywhere." Tears ran down his face. Jazz got up and hugged her brother. After a few minutes she said:

"How do you feel?" Danny sniffed and wiped his eyes.

"Better," he said with a small smile. "You're right; sometimes it is better to talk about it." Jazz smiled back at him.

The rest of the session was spent talking more about the incident and how he was coping with it. After forty-five minutes Jazz informed him that the time was up.

"Wow," Danny said. "I can't believe how much better I always feel talking to you. You may be a bossy know it all, but you are a great listener when you want to be." Jazz scowled at him for a second and then gave him a warm smile.

"I do what I can little brother." They hugged for a second. When they let go Jazz looked at him sternly. "Have you talked to mom recently?" Danny chuckled.

"I called her last night and I will be having dinner with her on Tuesday," Danny explained in a tired tone. Jazz narrowed her eyes at him.

"As long as work doesn't keep you late." Danny waved his hands at her as if to tell her to back off.

"I'll be there," he said with a definite tone. Jazz smiled at him.

"Ok then, I'll see you in two weeks at the same time?" Danny smiled back.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

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Danny left the office in unusually high spirits. He walked down the sidewalk and debated whether to transform and fly around the sky when he felt a grumble in his stomach.

_I guess even half-ghosts need to eat,_ he thought. Luckily, the Nasty Burger was right down the road.

He entered the fast food restaurant and ordered his food. Sitting down at the table he began to take a big bite out of his burger when he heard a familiar voice.

"I'll just have the salad," Danny looked up to see a short girl with long black hair with her back to him.

"Sam?" he asked curiously. The girl turned around and looked at him with violet eyes.

"Danny!" She ran over and gave him a big hug.

"Sam Manson, when did you get back to town?" Danny asked in a happy tone. Sam blushed and said.

"Last night, I tried calling you this morning but you weren't home." Danny smiled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sorry about that, I was…..seeing Jazz," Sam nodded at the mention of his sister.

"I get it, how have you been holding up?" Danny just shrugged.

"A lot better, what brings you hear? Last time I heard you were in Europe or something doing a story on Dracula." Sam waved it off.

"Another dead end,"

Samantha Manson had been one of Danny's best friends in school. Back when they were kids, She, Danny and Tucker were nearly inseparable. But after high school, she started a newspaper that investigated paranormal activates called The Goth Gazette. She was now a world renowned author of several books and the leader of a newspaper in New York City.

"So why did you come back here?" Danny asked.

"Word is that Amity Park has been the central core for a bunch of ghost happenings." Danny nodded, not quite knowing what to say. "Any way the lead spectral scientist can let me know what's been happening?" Danny shook his head.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Sam looked down disappointedly.

"Of course," she said with a sullen expression.

Sam knew a lot about Danny and his father's research. She even helped them in their lab when they were younger. But she also knew that Danny wasn't allowed to talk about it, at least not in the open.

"But I might know what you're talking about if you see me later," he said quickly with a smile. Sam smiled back at him.

"Maybe we can get together tonight at your place," she said grinning.

"Uh no, tonight me and Valerie have a date." Sam dropped her eyes slightly still grinning.

"Oh, so you're still with _her_?" Danny looked at her with an uncertain look.

"Yeah," he said defensively. "It was a year last March." Sam smiled again, only this time it seemed forced.

"Well good for you, I guess we'll have to make a rain check," She said getting up.

"Where are you going?" Danny asked as she went to leave.

"I have a lot of different leads I have to look into before the end of the day, but don't worry; I'll give you a call." She left the restaurant without another word.

Danny was glad to have seen his friend after such a long time but was a little taken back by the way she acted when she left. _Oh well_, he thought. I'm sure they could talk about it some other time.

He finished his burger and left hoping to get some work done before his date with Valerie.

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Just then, a few miles away in the Afterlife lab, the lab technicians were monitoring the ghost portal. Everything was working fine. The shields were all in place and the portal was still stabilized.

Just then all of the computer monitors turned to static. Then a face appeared on all of the monitors grinning at them. The face was green and seemed to be wearing sunglasses. But before anybody could get a reading on it the face disappeared and all of the computers started back up.

The confused technicians ran around the lab trying to find the source of the weird face unaware that something horrible was building up in their system.


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: So I know it's been a REALY long time since I updated this story. I'm not even sure if any of you remember this. But for thos of you who do remember. I am sorry for not updating in the last year. Now that I have my life back on track I hope to write more chapters for this story and update more frequently. I know this chapter is shorter then usaual but I needed to get back into the grove of writing again. So please let me know what you think and enjoy._

Danny arrived at Valerie's house at eight o'clock. He was about to knock on the door when it was swung open nearly hitting him.

Valerie ran out looking panicked.

"What is it Val?" Danny asked looking at his girlfriend with concern.

"Oh Danny, It's horrible." Danny looked at her with confusion.

"What's horrible? Whats going on?" Valerie ran down to her car.

"There is some kind of ghost at my father's company tearing it apart." Danny froze for a second.

"Ghost?" He asked carefully.

"Yeah," Valerie said as she was getting into her car. "It showed up like ten minutes ago. Im sorry but I need to go to Axion and see what I can do." And with that she drove off.

Danny knew better then to try and stop her. Valerie could defitenly take care of herself and she would never listen to him. Plus, Dany knew how important her father's company was to her.

Axion Labs is mainly a research lab in the development of new weapons and technology. There are susspose to be Axion labs scattered all over the country with connections to space sattelites and other government weapons. They were one of the main providers for The Afterlife's and Men in White's ghost hunting technology. And Valerie's dad was the head of it all.

Danny knew how important her father's lab was to her. And if some ghost was thrashing it, then Danny would be there to stop it.

Danny quickly looked around and seeing no one, transformed into the Phantom and shot up into the air toward Axion.

--

Meanwhile, over at The Afterlife, all of the technicians and computer analysts were busy going over all of the data in the computers and checking the ghost portal to see what had gone wrong. Tucker Foley was at the main computer terminal scanning for what might have happened.

He was surrounded by several other technicians looking over his shoulder. They were all shouting different things at him.

"What could have possibly done this?" 

"The face was horrible!"

"What if it was some kind of terrorist plot?" Tucker pounded his fists down on the table.

"I can't concentrate with you eggheads yelling at me!" At this the technicians became quiet and watched him. Finally one asked:

"Do you have any idea what happened?" Tucker took a deep breath and removed his glasses.

"Near as I can tell, Some….thing got into the system and stole all our information." The technicians gasped. 

"Who could have done that?" one asked. Tucker took another deep sigh.

"I think What could have done that is more like it." They all looked at eachother in confusion. "Before the occurrence happened, the shield went down for a split second on the ghost portal. Something from the other side got into the system." They gasped again.

"But what happened to it?" Another asked. "You said that whatever was in the system was gone now." Tucker nodded.

"I know, I'm going to try and track it." He began typing on the keyboard when all the screens in the underground complex went blank. Then the same green face appeared on all the monitors with a sickening laugh coming from it.

Tucker staired at his screen in confusion while everyone else in the lab ran around trying to get the system back on line.

It was then that Tucker realized, with the systems down, the shields on the ghost portal would be down as well.

He sprang from his seat and began yelling orders.

"Do whatever you can to get the system back on line," He then yelled down to the Men in White agents on guard infront of the portal.

"We are gonna need a whole lot more of you guys." The agents looked at eachother for a second, then began calling for back up.

All while this was happening the face never left the monitors and the laugh was coming from everywhere now. Tucker looked at the monitor he was working on.

"God help us all." He breathed.


	14. Chapter 14

The Afterlife lab was completely chaotic. Lab technicians were running around the lab trying to get the back up generators working for the portal, while Men in White agents had the guns pointing at the portal, ready to pounce on whatever came out.

Meanwhile, on the observation platform, Tucker Folely was working furiously at his computer terminal trying to get the system back online. But whatever was causing this system failure was not letting him get anywhere near fixing the problem. He had tried every hacker trick he could think of and even tried hooking up his PDA to the computer. Nothing was working and that same green face was staring at him laughing.

Just then an alarm sounded. Tucker looked up from his console to see it was the ghost alarm. Something had gotten through the portal. He looked down just in time to see several Men In White agents go flying in different directions.

Standing at the entrance to the portal was the most monstrous ghost Tucker had ever seen. It stood seven feet tall, with dark green skin. It was wearing what appeared to be white and pink striped pajamas. Its eyes were red and unfocused but still held anger in them. The ghost surveyed its surroundings and let out a hard grunt.

"Leave me ALONE!" The Men in White agents that were left standing from the first assault fired their ecto-rays at the ghost. The green lasers bounced off it harmlessly, but now the ghost seemed more angry.

"I said LEAVE ME ALONE!" The ghost took a deep breath and blew out cold air at the surrounding agents. They immediately became frozen in place. The monster then hit their frozen bodies, reducing them to pieces all over the lab.

"Whoa!" Tucker yelled, watching the gruesome scene unfold. He quickly ran down the steps of the observation platform. Doctors and lab technicians were running out the entrance to the lab.

Just then the ghost spotted Tucker and blew cold air his way. It froze the floor in front of him and sent him sliding right in front of the ghost.

It eyed him menacingly and brought its huge fists down. Tucker rolled out of the way just in time. He got to his feet and tried to run but the creature grabbed him by his collar and brought him up to eye level.

"I will rip your head off," it said. It was all Tucker had not to throw up. The things breath smelled like rotten garbage.

"I actually like my head where it is thanks," Tucker said. He reached into his lab coat and picked up the first thing he could find, his spray on cologne. He brought it out and sprayed it in the monsters face. The creature bellowed in pain and threw Tucker into a nearby wall.

"I am definitely going to feel that in the morning," he said staggering to his feet. The monster rubbed its eyes and ran at Tucker.

The young scientist was just able to jump out of the way. He then saw a Men in White agent on the floor unconscious. He quickly ran to him.

On his belt was a Fenton Thermos. Tucker quickly grabbed it and pointed it at the ghost. It ran at him again ready to kill, but Tucker uncapped the thermos and the ghost was sucked inside. He quickly capped it and dropped it to the floor.

After a minute, not hearing any more commotion, people began to filter back into the lab to see what had happened. In the middle of the destruction and death, Tucker sat there holding onto the thermos for dear life.

More Men In White agents came running in. Leading them was Blake Runner. He ran to Tucker.

"What the hell happened in here?" He looked down at Tucker and brought him to his feet in one rough motion.

"This got through," he said handing the agent the thermos. Blake looked at it like it might explode. Tucker walked away from the agent and got out his cell phone. "I need to call Danny."

--

Just then, twenty miles away, Danny was flying through the air as fast as he could. He arrived at Axion Labs to see smoke coming from the top. He looked around the outside and was relieved to see that he beat Valerie here, not seeing her car.

The Phantom flew down and phased through the roof of the building into the main lab. There were bodies of different scientists and security guards all over the lab. Before he could even check the bodies he heard a scream.

"No please don't!" Phantom flew through a wall into the next room where he saw a scientist cowering on the floor.

Standing over the scientist was some sort of faceless metal monster. It stood ten feet tall and was made out of different machines all molded together to make a body. The thing brought its hands up to crush the scientist.

Phantom soared through the air and struck the monster, sending it flying back into a wall. Little metal pieces fell off of it but it still seemed unfazed.

The monster lunged at the half ghost. Danny brought up a shield and its blows bounced off of it. It then took another swing at him but Danny caught its fists and threw it over his head across the lab.

"C'mon, a bucket of bolts is not going to hurt me," the hero taunted. The thing ran at Danny again. This time he stuck his hands out and a green burst of energy shot out at the monster reducing it to ruble. His hand was still glowing green and all Danny could do was looked at it in amazement. "That could be useful."

Suddenly he felt the familiar chill of his ghost sense. Following it, Phantom flew through the empty rooms until he came to the main computer room. In it was a giant super computer that was supposedly linked to government weapons and satellites.

In front of the computer was what looked like a man. He had green skin and long white hair down to his back. He wore dark sunglasses and a long white cape over a tattered business suit.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Phantom yelled in outrage. The ghost turned around and glared at him.

"You dare speak to me like that?! I am Technus Master of Technology." His voice was loud and sounded whiney.

Technus held his hands out and green electricity shot out in two different directions. Before Danny could do anything, two smaller versions of the robotic monster tackled him to the ground.

"HA! You see that resisting me is unwise." Danny struggled for a second then sent the two robots flying off of him. Technus stepped back. "I see you are a formidable opponent, but no matter. Once I fuse myself with this computer I will be a god!" Phantom held his fists up.

"And what makes you think I'll let you do that?" Technus let out a loud obnoxious laugh.

"You seem to care for these bags of flesh." He made a gesture and Danny saw for the first time, a man tied up in cables attached to the wall. He recognized the man immediately at Valerie's father.

"Mr. Grey?" Danny said in a breathless voice. Technus laughed again.

"Yes, if you take one more step towards me I will fry this human." Phantom glared at Technus but didn't make any move to stop him.

Technus then brought his hands down onto the console and phased into the computer. His face appeared on the screen.

"Yessssss, I can feel my power growing."

"What are you doing?" Phantom yelled.

"I am linking myself with this company's satellite. Once the process is complete, I will have control over all technology on this mud ball." A million questions came to Danny.

"Why are you doing this?" Technus chuckled.

"Because, it is what I am. In life I was a lowly computer technician thirty years ago. I was under appreciated and ridiculed for what I knew. But when I died I was blessed with this awesome power. I waited on the other side for an opportunity to come back into this world. And when you're a being such as I, time is meaningless. I saw the opening to this world was being held open through technology. It was child's play to break the shields and come out through the computers. Now nothing will be able to stop me.!" He started laughing again.

Phantom took one step forward. The cables around Mr. Grey tightened.

"Carful now," Technus warned. "We wouldn't want any accidents now." Danny clenched his fists, powerless to stop Technus. "Stupid boy," The cables around Mr. Grey tightened more and fried him with green electricity.

"NO!" Danny flew to him. Just then a green burst of light shot out of the building up into the sky. Technus was gone.

Phantom held the limp form of his girlfriend's father. He was dead. Before Danny could do anything the door burst open and Valerie came running in. She looked at Danny and then her father.

"Dad? What did you do?" Phantom placed him on the floor at a loss for words. Valerie rushed at the half ghost.

Phantom quickly became intangible and flew through the ceiling and out of the lab. Valerie glared up at where he had disappeared then looked down at her dad.

She fell to his side and clutched his limp body crying. The anger she felt toward that ghost was blinding. One day, she thought, she will have her revenge.

--

At the Afterlife lab Tucker was supervising the clean up the ghost left behind when Danny came running in. He came up to Tucker out of breath.

"Dude, what happened?" He asked his friend. Danny started to explain when he first noticed all the damage. He looked around and saw Technus's face on all the monitors.

"I think we have a big problem."


End file.
